Today I brewed 03 Zi Pin ( Yi wu). This one takes a minute to get going. The first three infusions left me unimpressed. But it turned on in the fourth (or fifth?) infusion. Bringing flavorful brews with a strong lasting hui gan and nice qi. This is my favorite so far.

It's been fun tasting these samples. Have been trying them variously -- a few times in a gaiwan, and also in a couple of favorite yixings I use for puerh. I've done all the sessions 'blind' (not knowing which tea I was brewing until after I'd exhausted the sample) except for the first round. So interesting, the differences each time. The only teas I could guess correctly each time were the 2007 Blue Mark and the 2003 ZiPin. I found the Blue Mark to have a distinctly deep and highly focused warmth in the core of the chest as well as consistently high marks all around for aroma, body, balance, etc, and the ZiPin would always give itself away with it's strong overall qi. I thought the 2003 Qing Teng showed a good deal of activity, as well. All of the samples, though, have been a pleasure to try. Thanks again for the opportunity!

After enjoying a session with the Mengsong (which I liked a lot, in clay; somewhat less in porcelain), I was intrigued by TwoDog's post and tried the Nannuo in a tester. Never having a great Nannuo before, this is surely my best Nannuo so far. It kind of reminds me of Haiwan Purple bud of 2007, but better. I have yet to wait to see how it compares to the Yiwu. I guess that whether I'd prefer the Nannuo or the Mengsong depends mostly on momentary mood.

Anyway, the set looks like a big win so far. Especially compared to, e.g., the Gu Puer set from YS, these Wistaria teas are a class higher and only about twice as expensive.

JakubT wrote:After enjoying a session with the Mengsong (which I liked a lot, in clay; somewhat less in porcelain), I was intrigued by TwoDog's post and tried the Nannuo in a tester. Never having a great Nannuo before, this is surely my best Nannuo so far. It kind of reminds me of Haiwan Purple bud of 2007, but better. I have yet to wait to see how it compares to the Yiwu. I guess that whether I'd prefer the Nannuo or the Mengsong depends mostly on momentary mood.

Anyway, the set looks like a big win so far. Especially compared to, e.g., the Gu Puer set from YS, these Wistaria teas are a class higher and only about twice as expensive.

As for the Ziyin, I think you can hold it up as an argument as to why Nannuo ages well. I would guess that when it was younger it had plenty of sewei, which turned into that houdu sweetness. It's a good tea.

The prices are fairly in line with what I would expect for most of the teas. They don't give away well stored 10 year old Nannuo tea on the streets. You pay a little bit of a premium in some cases, but for most people it is easier to pay a little more than to dig through piles of crap until you happen upon solid cakes like this.

The Mengsong is a curiosity to me. I have a lot of mengsong cakes and material, and that sour pomelo aged flavor is not something I recall encountering before. Too bad he is cagey about where he gets his material, i am quite curious on that one.

Lanyin - Aggressive stuff, a bit rough on the edges but a great session.Taiyue - Easy drinking, sleep inducing. Jiangchen - Not so exciting, but definitely a nice drink. Ziyin - A bit of grape, some tongue-squeezing, quite a lot going on flavor wise. Zipin - Just fantastic. Smorgasboard of tastes, great qi. Qingteng - Mindblown. A cerebral exercise of epic proportions. Drink this seriously.